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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23069188">An Analysis of The Posting Habits of Mechanism Fans</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/justawordwright/pseuds/justawordwright'>justawordwright</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Mechanisms Fandom In Numbers [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fandom - Fandom, The Mechanisms (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fandom Statistics, Meta, Other</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 08:42:20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,154</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23069188</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/justawordwright/pseuds/justawordwright</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>So I noticed the number of fics in the tag seemed to have exploded over the last few months, and wondered if that really was true - and if so why. That led to some number crunching, and a couple of other bits of data exploration.</p><p>Did you know almost as many fics were posted in the last two days as in the first *five years* of the fandom? And five were posted just in the time it took me to write this? All that, plus other things inside.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Mechanisms Fandom In Numbers [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2118069</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>61</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>An Analysis of The Posting Habits of Mechanism Fans</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>So, I started reading Mechanisms fanfic probably around mid 2014. It was a fairly quiet time for the Tag – there were maybe fifteen fics in total and it was generally about a year between each new fic. Subjects were biased towards the Crew and the first two albums (High Noon had only just been released).</p><p>Cut to the last couple of weeks. There are 164 works in the tag as of me starting writing this (I was grabbing data at 2-3pm GMT 08/03/2020), with a number of other works under the Bifrost and OUTIS tags but not the umbrella Mechanism tag.</p><p>In the time it took me to grab the data and write this, four new fics were posted. (Last I checked, there are more every time I check)</p><p>It feels a little like I’ve blinked and the fandom has exploded with new work.</p><p>Anyway, that left me wondering just exactly what the data looked like, and whether the Magnus Archives has had much of an effect. Thus, I’ve compiled the data below.</p>
<h1>The Fic Explosion</h1><p>The total number of existing fic at the end of each month is given below (only showing months where a new fic was posted, and including fic under the album tag but not the umbrella tag):</p>
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>

<p>Month</p>
</td>
<td>

<p># Fics</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>Month</p>
</td>
<td>

<p># Fics</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>

<p>Dec-12</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>2</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>Mar-18</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>23</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>

<p>Jan-13</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>3</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>Jun-18</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>24</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>

<p>Apr-13</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>4</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>Feb-19</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>25</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>

<p>Jun-13</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>5</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>Apr-19</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>26</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>

<p>Jul-13</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>6</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>May-19</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>27</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>

<p>Dec-13</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>7</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>Jun-19</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>39</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>

<p>Jan-14</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>11</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>Jul-19</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>43</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>

<p>Feb-14</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>12</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>Aug-19</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>47</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>

<p>Apr-14</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>14</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>Sep-19</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>50</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>

<p>Sep-14</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>15</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>Oct-19</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>55</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>

<p>Dec-14</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>16</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>Nov-19</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>59</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>

<p>Dec-15</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>17</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>Dec-19</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>65</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>

<p>Feb-16</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>18</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>Jan-20</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>77</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>

<p>Jul-16</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>19</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>Feb-20</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>134</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>

<p>Apr-17</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>20</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>Mar-20</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>176</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>

<p>Jan-18</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>22</p>
</td>
<td>

<p> </p>
</td>
<td>

<p> </p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table><p> </p><p>
  
</p><p>Zooming in on the weeks around Death To The Mechanisms, and annotating with significant events, </p>
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>

<p>Date</p>
</td>
<td>

<p># Fics</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>Date</p>
</td>
<td>

<p># Fics</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>Month</p>
</td>
<td>

<p># Fics</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>

<p>29-May</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>19</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>04-Sep</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>39</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>11-Dec</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>50</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>

<p>05-Jun</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>19</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>11-Sep</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>39</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>18-Dec</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>50</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>

<p>12-Jun</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>29</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>18-Sep</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>40</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>25-Dec</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>53</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>

<p>19-Jun</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>30</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>25-Sep</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>42</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>01-Jan</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>53</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>

<p>26-Jun</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>31</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>02-Oct</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>42</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>08-Jan</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>54</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>

<p>03-Jul</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>32</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>09-Oct</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>45</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>15-Jan</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>54</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>

<p>10-Jul</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>33</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>16-Oct</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>46</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>22-Jan</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>61</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>

<p>17-Jul</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>33</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>23-Oct</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>46</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>29-Jan</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>65</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>

<p>24-Jul</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>34</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>30-Oct</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>46</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>05-Feb</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>68</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>

<p>31-Jul</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>35</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>06-Nov</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>46</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>12-Feb</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>71</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>

<p>07-Aug</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>38</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>13-Nov</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>47</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>19-Feb</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>78</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>

<p>14-Aug</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>39</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>20-Nov</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>48</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>26-Feb</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>102</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>

<p>21-Aug</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>39</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>27-Nov</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>49</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>04-Mar</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>142</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>

<p>28-Aug</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>39</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>04-Dec</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>49</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>08-Mar</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>164</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table><p>
  
</p><p>Death to the Mechanisms was announced on July 30<sup>th</sup> 2019 and led to a small but steady amount of new fic being posted. The gig itself has led to a more-than-exponential growth in the number of fics – there were 54 prior to the gig, there are 164 now so that the number has tripled!</p><p>I wondered if the Magnus Archives were having a knock on effect into the Mechanisms - TMA is a lot more popular (probably due to its distribution method and being a lot less niche than steampunk pirates singing concept albums) and it does seem like some fans are looking into Jonny’s back catalogue. However, while the Mech fic numbers show the same growth the Magnus Archives fandom is showing, there is no real jump in the number of Mechanism fics being posted when the Magnus Archives saw a sharp increase in its posting rate in late 2017. </p><p>There are a number of 21 crossover fics between TMA and the Mechanisms (about 1/8th of the total Mechanism content), which vary in being crossovers between the two universes or just have the Mechs band as part of Jon’s backstory, while 12 TMA fics are tagged as having Jon/Basira as having been in the Mechanisms as a Uni band (there is some intersection in these two sets, and the 12 fics has to be an estimation as there is no agreed upon tag, and none of the ones in use are large enough to have been synonymised). So there is definitely evidence in the fic that there’s a fan crossover (which is also well documented pretty much everywhere else in the Mechs fandom now as well).</p><p>Furthermore, taking a random sample of 15 of the 100 most recent Mechanisms fics (and luckily getting no author repeats), 8 of those authors also wrote for TMA, and of those 8, 6 wrote for the Magnus Archives first, with one doing a TMA/Mechanisms crossover. This isn’t a sufficiently large data set to get anything statistically significant out, but it is possible that the TMA fans are of a demographic more likely to write fanfic, and are making up a large quantity of the new fic. If so, I’m not sure why this didn’t trigger earlier, but it may be down to the fact that Death to the Mechanisms is the first (and last) of their big gigs in two years, so the first TMA fans got a chance to go to.</p><p>The fact that Bifrost is the most popular of the albums, and the popularity of Lyf’s character may also be an indicator of this, given the album’s similarities to TMA.<br/>
<br/>
The amazing thing about this data though, is that if the current growth rate is sustained, the prediction is that there will be 400 fics by the end of the month, and 500 by the end of next month… </p><p>
  
</p>
<h2>Fic Topics</h2><p>Mech fic is either about the Crew or about one of the albums. Early on, things skewed towards OUTIS space content, but Bifrost seems to have grown rapidly, and of course now the TMA crossovers are occuring. More crew-fic is being written, and this also seems to include a number of people’s ‘mech-personas’ or collective OCs.</p><p> </p>
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>

<p>Fic Topic</p>
</td>
<td>

<p># Crossover Fics in Main Tag (current)</p>
</td>
<td>

<p># Crossover Fics in Main Tag (June 19)</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>

<p>No crossover</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>91</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>8</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>

<p>Bifrost Incident</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>27</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>6</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>

<p>High Noon Over Camelot</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>8</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>3</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>

<p>Ulysses Dies At Dawn</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>9</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>4</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>

<p>Once Upon a Time In Space</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>19</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>10</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>

<p>The Magnus Archives</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>21</p>
</td>
<td>

<p>2</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table><p>
  
</p><p>This is backed up relatively well by the characters involved,</p><p>
  
</p><p>with Jonny being the most popular crew member and Lyf being the most popular of the non-crew characters.</p>
<h2>Other Fun Facts</h2><p>- Once Lyf/Marius gets properly cannonised as a searchable tag, they will equal the amount of Auroa/Nastya fic on the Archive, the current most popular relationship tag.</p><p>- The most common tag is Canon Typical Violence (36). Unsurprising.</p><p>- Then Angst (17). Also unsurpring.</p><p>- Then Hurt/Comfort (15). Then Fluff (13). This says a lot about the fandom, probably. </p>
<h2>Conclusions</h2><p>This was mostly done for personal satisfaction, but I’ve posted as others will probably also find it interesting. There was no computer aided data grabbing, so I’ve almost certainly made a few mistakes combining different tags together given that AO3 doesn’t filter out all the crossovers in the umbrella tag for the smallest albums.<br/>
<br/>
At some point I may come back to revisit it with a proper data trawler and more thorough stats, but that will likely be once we’ve had chance to see if current posting trends sustain themselves or not.</p>
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